Afghan govt team in Doha makes contact with Taliban

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Presidential Palace says that the government’s delegation to Doha– with six members, including a woman – has made contact with the Taliban and has heard their suggestions for the intra-Afghan negotiations.

The team was sent from Kabul to Doha, Qatar a day before the signing of the US-Taliban deal on February 29.

Presidential spokesman SediqSediqqi did not provide more details on the delegation’s meeting with the Taliban, but the High Peace Council said that the prisoner release has been the main topic of the government delegation and Taliban meeting. Sediqqi said that the prisoner release is not a pre-condition for beginning the intra-Afghan negotiations, but it will be part of it.

“The main duty of the delegation is to meet the Taliban and hear their primary suggestions and share it with the government,” he said. “We will see what issues the Taliban are raising. Is it the prisoner release, negotiations, or other issues?”

A journalist in Qatar, Sami Yousafzai, said the Afghan government delegation has held one formal meeting with the Taliban and that in their next meeting the prisoner release will be discussed.

“It was the demand of the Qatari government that the Afghan government should send a delegation to Qatar so that they discuss the prisoner release with the Taliban,” he said.

The Taliban has not confirmed the meeting of their members with the government team.

President Ghani at a press conference in Kabul on Sunday said the government does not have any commitment to release 5,000 Taliban leaders as part of efforts to begin intra-Afghan negotiations. But a member of the High Peace Council said some sort of flexibility can be expected in the president’s stance on this matter.

“The government is claiming that it will not release the prisoners… It might change in few days,” said Rahim Beg Yaqubi, member of the High Peace Council.

Salim Shah Ibrahimi, the deputy head of the National Security Council; Abdul KhaliqBalakarzai, the deputy minister of the state ministry for peace affairs; ZakiaAdeli, deputy minister of justice; FaizullahZaki, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; AminullahMuzaffari, the deputy minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs; and Totakhil, the head of prisoners affairs are the six members of the government’s team that were sent to Doha.(TOLOnews)